(audience cheering)
- [Narrator] Ruth Bader Ginsburg
understood the power of story.
She took the story of our country seriously,
and she devoted her life to helping realize
the revolutionary vision of our founders.
(dramatic orchestral music)
In 1944, 11 year old, Ruth Bader had her first introduction
to a new powerful form of storytelling.
A young conductor named Dean Dixon was at that time
touring New York city high schools,
presenting Opera's Design for Children's Appreciation.
As she later remembered, the opera was La Giocanda.
"Not the most likely choice for a first opera.
"But for me," she said,
"It was an overwhelming experience.
"High drama conveyed through glorious music.
"I was spell bound."
By the time she arrived in Washington,
Justice Ginsburg possessed
an encyclopedic knowledge of opera.
At Washington National Opera,
and at opera companies across the country,
she spoke frequently about the intersection
of her twin passions, opera and the law.
- This is the perfect example of the
inadequate assistance of counsel.
(audience laughs)
- [Narrator] She described Carmen's manipulation
of Don Jose as the ultimate plea bargain
and summarized Wagner's sprawling ring cycle as
a contract dispute.
Some opera fans are content to live in the past,
but Justice Ginsburg had a special fondness
for operas of the 20th and 21st centuries.
She recognized that stories are a powerful force
for shaping a society.
Perhaps as powerful as the laws that govern it.
She spoke of the legal and moral issues
explored by contemporary operas like Dead Man Walking.
Appomattox.
The Console.
Champion.
And Billy Budd.
- The law demanded that Billy hang from the yardarm,
but that is not what justice called for.
So that the conflict between strict adherence to the law
and the more flexible reading I think is
well illustrated.
- [Narrator] Just as she shared her passion
for the law with opera fans,
Justice Ginsburg shared her passion for opera,
with the legal community.
- Every year, I take my law clerks
to the Washington National Opera's Young Artist production.
The Young Artist program,
I think is particularly good because young people
will relate to the young singers.
- [Narrator] Twice each term,
she arranged Musicales at the Court,
often featuring members of Washington National Opera's
Young Artist program.
For many years, Justice Ginsburg attended the opera
in the company of her good friend, Justice Antonin Scalia.
This unlikely friendship was the subject
of an opera by Derek Wang called Scalia/Ginsburg.
- Our last duet is called,
"We are different, we are one."
And is different in the way we interpret the constitution.
One in our reverence for the court
and its place in our tripod type system of government.
- [Narrator] In 2015, Francesca Zambello
invited Justice Ginsburg to appear in Donizetti's,
The Daughter of the Regiment
in the speaking role of the Duchess of Krakenthorpe.
- The best are willing to listen and learn.
No surprise then,
that the most valorous Krakenthorpians
have been women.
(audience cheering)
- [Narrator] Justice Ginsburg was many things
to Washington National Opera.
(dramatic orchestral music)
She was a devoted fan, an ambassador for opera.
A friend, an advocate,
a scholar, a visionary,
a shining star.
- Dropping traditions that have worked
and are continuing to work
is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm
because you are not getting wet.
(audience cheering)
- [Narrator] When Justice Ginsburg was in the opera house,
she often commanded greater applause
than the stars on stage.
And when she was on stage,
no one else had any chance at all.
(audience cheering) (dramatic orchestral music)